AN:
Heyo!
I'm sooo sorry for the delay. I started writing this chapter after I posted Chapter 1, but then I needed to figure out how the rest of it was going to go. And then, I got distracted. Around the time I wanted to get this chapter finished and posted, the second wave of courses in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass was released, so I was busy playing on those. After that, well, this chapter just didn't want to be written. Then, this past Thursday, our AC unit crapped out (I live with my brother, hence the "our"), so we had to deal with that. When we sought refuge at our parent's house (we couldn't run the AC, otherwise it would get worse), I finally buckled down to get the rest of this chapter written, and now, here we are!
We're entering page break and dialogue territory now, people! Hope y'all enjoy!
Key:
Text = Dream or Nightmare
P-Text-P = Parseltongue
Synopsis: While slaving away for his aunt and uncle, Harry meets a snake in the garden. There is more critical thinking about Dumbledore.
***RotLP***
Harry was surrounded by trees and fog under a dark, moonlit sky. He figured he was in the Forbidden Forest. But how?
Well, he didn't really care. He was back at Hogwarts, away from the Dursleys. That's all that mattered. But he needed to find a way to stay hidden before Dumbledore found out and sent him back. He wandered through the forest as he heard two sickeningly familiar voices screaming for him.
"Boy! Get back here, you little shit!" Uncle Vernon bellowed.
"Get back here, freak, and face your punishment!" Aunt Petunia screeched.
Harry's heart dropped into his stomach. This was Hogwarts. This was supposed to be Harry's safe place. How are his aunt and uncle here?
No. Absolutely not. They had ruined enough of his life. He wasn't about to let them ruin his home, too. He ran as far away from the voices as he could.
He kept running until he saw two hidden figures. As he got closer, they were revealed to be Ron and Hermione.
"Ron! Hermione! Thank Merlin I found you!" Harry said as he caught his breath. "I need your help. The Dursleys… I don't know how, but they're here, and they're after me!"
"No, Harry. We already told you, we're done helping you," Hermione said in a chastising tone.
"Wherever you go, pain always follows," Ron spat. "And unlike you, we have a lot to lose. We have our own lives and loved ones to think about!"
"No, please! Not after everything we've been through!" Harry pleaded.
"Exactly, Harry! Hermione and I have risked our necks for you enough times, but no more!" Ron snarled.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said "But we have to think of ourselves now. Maybe Headmaster Dumbledore can help you."
Ron and Hermione began to fade into the thick of the fog.
"No, please! Don't leave me like everyone else! Please!" Harry pleaded. But his pleas landed on deaf ears.
"Ah, Harry, my boy! There you are!"
Harry heard a familiar grandfatherly, twinkly tone. He turned to see Headmaster Dumbledore, and to his horror, Petunia, and Vernon, sneering at him with scrutiny.
"Your aunt and uncle have been looking all over for you," Dumbledore said. "Why did you run away?"
"I didn't, Headmaster! I have no idea how I got here!" Harry explained.
"Nevertheless, Harry, you must return with your relatives. It is not safe for you anywhere else," Dumbledore ordered.
"Headmaster, please, let me stay here," Harry begged. "Surely you can protect me just as well as the blood wards."
"I'm sorry, Harry," Dumbledore refused. "But I am far too busy preparing for the war against Voldemort. I do not have enough time and energy to worry about you right now."
"Then I'll just find somewhere else to lie low until term. I'm not going back with them!" Harry yelled as he ran off. He ran through the forest until he came across a group of masked Death Eaters. He turned to run in the other direction but found himself blocked by Dumbledore and the Dursleys.
Voldemort was coming. He knew it. He could feel it in the scar on his forehead. He turned to Dumbledore, desperate for help.
"Headmaster, he's coming! I'm not ready for this! Please get me out of here!" Harry cried
"This is your destiny, my boy," Dumbledore chided. "I cannot interfere."
Harry glared at the headmaster in disbelief. It was clear that the old man wanted the boy to die like the good hero he had been groomed to be. So, he turned around and accepted his fate. He was trapped in this life, and he had nothing worth escaping and living for anyway.
As expected, Voldemort came out from behind the trees and stared at Harry with his cold, red eyes.
"Chased down by a pair of muggles, Potter?" The snake-faced psychopath said with a laugh. "How pathetic."
"Just kill me, already," Harry pleaded. "I can't do this anymore."
"With pleasure," Voldemort cooed with a wicked grin.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" The dark wizard unleashed the killing curse on Harry. This was it; the release he had been waiting for. He would finally be at peace with his parents and Sirius, wherever they were.
***RotLP***
Harry woke and sat up on his cot in a cold sweat with panicked breathing, meaning what he just experienced was another nightmare. He then remembered why he had given up on sleep.
He wished he hadn't been dreaming. He wanted so desperately to be free, and it seemed as if death was the only way he would achieve that.
"Boy! Wake up and get started on breakfast!" Harry heard his aunt Petunia screech as she banged on his door and unlocked it from the outside. With a groan, the boy rolled out of bed. If he refused to come down, he would be in for a brutal beating, and he was trying to avoid that.
On the other hand, he would gladly refuse if it meant the beating would be fatal.
But on another hand, with how fate has been so far, he was sure he wouldn't be granted that mercy. So he would rather not be beaten if death wasn't waiting for him on the other side.
And on yet another hand, this was his uncle Vernon he was thinking about. The whale of a man would surely beat him anyway, even for so much as breathing too loud.
So, it definitely wasn't a question of if he would be beaten, but rather when and how bad it would be.
Resigned to his fate, Harry left his room and trudged down the stairs. At the bottom was his aunt Petunia, waiting to give him a list of chores. The boy took the list on his way into the kitchen.
First on the list was a full English-style breakfast, which would consist of toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, beans, and tomatoes. He knew he would have to get this done quickly, so he would have all four burners going with bacon and sausage in one pan, eggs and mushrooms in two separate pans, and finally, a pot for the beans.
As he was making breakfast, he realized he wasn't quite finished with his critical train of thought from two nights prior.
He remembered more of what Dumbledore said about the prophecy; more specifically how Voldemort came to know about it. Apparently, Trelawney spoke it to the headmaster in the middle of her interview for the professor of divination position at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. One of the Death Eaters overheard some of it, then ran to Voldemort, sending the Dark Lord on his quest to kill the boy. This begged the question of why the interview was held there rather than at Hogwarts.
Harry honestly didn't know. He thought maybe the headmaster wanted a Death Eater to overhear the prophecy being spoken, then report it to their master. But what would Dumbledore have to gain from that? Wouldn't it have been better to keep Voldemort in the dark about the prophecy, and later use it to catch him off guard?
Still, if Dumbledore wanted the prophecy overheard by Death Eaters, Harry had to wonder how he would manage that. He didn't think Dumbledore could have possibly known that such a prophecy would be spoken before the interview. If he did, Harry had to hand it to him. That was some serious magical prowess.
This led Harry to many theories that made the headmaster seem more manipulative than he first thought.
The first of which was that if Dumbledore wanted the prophecy to be overheard by Death Eaters, then he had to have known about it before the interview at Hog's Head. And if it wasn't due to magical prowess, then it may have been because the headmaster had interviewed Trelawney prior at Hogwarts. And it must have been at that interview when the prophecy was first spoken. Then somehow Dumbledore convinced Trelawney to meet him at the Hog's Head, where Death Eaters may very well have been visiting to gather intel for the Dark, for a second interview, and to speak the prophecy there. That, or he obliviated the first interview from her memory and then compelled her to meet at the Hog's Head.
Harry's train of thought was interrupted when he realized the bacon and sausage were getting a bit too dark for his relatives' liking. He quickly took them out of the pans and put them onto a serving plate. He then finished with the beans, eggs, mushrooms, and toast. After finishing with all that, he chopped the tomatoes, and finally got all of the food on serving plates and set them on the table.
When his relatives sat down, he thought he could escape a beating if he went to take care of his aunt Petunia's garden.
"Not so fast, boy! Stay here in case I need to punish you for mucking up our breakfast!" Vernon snarled, stopping Harry in his tracks.
Harry internally scoffed at his uncle, and at fate for once again screwing him over through his tormentors. There was no "in case" about it. He was sure that no matter how good he did, they would find something wrong to punish him for.
"Blech! Are you trying to poison us with this bacon and sausage, freak?!" Vernon roared as he spat out his food. He then rose and waddled over to Harry with a menacing look.
And here it comes. Just as he expected.
"N-no, I swear! I just got a little distracted!" Harry explained. But his uncle wouldn't listen, as usual. Vernon punched Harry in the face, knocking the boy down, then grabbed him and took him up to his room, where he would really give it to him.
Vernon opened the door and threw Harry onto the floor.
"Stay there!" The man yelled as he went to his room to grab what was probably his favorite method of hurting Harry: his belt. He came back to the boy's room, slamming the door behind him.
"Get up and take your shirt off!" Vernon ordered. Harry did as he was told. Vernon then threw Harry onto the cot face-down.
"I'll teach you to try to poison us, freak!" Vernon snarled as he brought his belt down hard on the boy's bare back. The muffled screams weren't enough to satisfy him, so he came down harder. So, he grabbed the boy and pushed him against the wall.
"Hands and arms on the wall, boy!"
Harry did as he was told, and screamed as the belt scared his back. Vernon was much happier now that he could better hear the boy reap what he had sown.
After Vernon felt he got in enough lashes, he pushed Harry to the ground and proceeded to kick him on multiple sides. Once he was satisfied with the punishment, he grabbed the boy and got him to his feet.
"Now get to the rest of your chores!" The whale of a man demanded. Harry complied and went outside to weed out the garden.
***RotLP***
Dudley felt like his breakfast would come back up the way he took it in as he heard the screams coming from his former second room. Hearing his cousin's screams used to fill him with sadistic glee, but not anymore.
Harry had saved his life in the prior summer, which to this day, still surprised him. Harry very well could have left Dudley at the mercy of those monsters that attacked them after the way he had treated the younger boy over the years.
But he didn't. And looking back, he was sure none of his former friends would have done the same. Granted, Harry had magic, whereas they did not. Even so, Dudley had learned in the last year that a true friend would have at least tried to help nonetheless, had he been the intended target rather than his cousin.
When that monster attacked Dudley, it forced him to see himself for who he truly was, which was a cruel bully. He saw the pain he inflicted on his victims, as well as the pain that was still within himself, and he hated it. He didn't want to be like that anymore. So, he cut ties with his gang and began to defend the same people he used to torment against them. Although it had taken a while to build trust, he eventually found true friendships with his former victims. He had also been eating better and exercising, resulting in much-needed weight loss.
All in all, Dudley's life had changed for the better. So, how could he possibly find joy in the screams from the person who was the catalyst for that change? Plus, Harry had saved his life using magic, so surely magic wasn't all as bad as his parents made it seem.
And as if Dudley didn't feel awful enough, he felt worse after he had pointed at Harry when his parents had asked him what happened to him after the attack. Rather than pointing the finger, he was trying to tell them that Harry saved him, hoping that would change his parents' attitude, but no words would come out. As a result, he only made things worse for Harry.
Dudley swore that if an opportunity ever presented itself, he would use it to make it up to Harry.
***RotLP***
Harry was in absolute pain after his latest beating. He wanted to lay in his bed and recover, but he had no choice. His uncle Vernon had left for work. He had to get the rest of his chores done before the land whale returned.
He was outside weeding out the garden when he heard something.
P-Stupid humans, beating on one of their own like that… As if killing my little Jade wasn't bad enough. How I wish I could get close enough to poison them.-P
So, there was a female snake in the garden. He almost wished his aunt Petunia were out here to see this. She deserved a good scare, but she didn't want the snake to meet the same fate as her daughter as a result.
So, Harry decided to make small talk with the snake. P-I'm not one of their own. They've made that clear for as long as I can remember. And as for poisoning them, I would say be my guest, but we're being watched.-P
At that, the snake revealed herself
P-A Speaker?!-P The snake said in awe. P-What a rarity I have stumbled upon! Tell me, young speaker, what is your name?-P
P-I'm Harry. What's your name?-P
P-My name is Ivy. My mother named me due to my vine-green color, and the poison in my glands.-P
P-Ivy… A beautiful name for a viper as beautiful as you. I am sorry to hear about my relatives killing your little Jade, by the way. I'm sure that she was as beautiful as you are.-P
If snakes could blush, Ivy would certainly be blushing right now. P-Why, thank you, Harry. And thank you for your condolences. Now, tell me, why do you serve those monsters? Someone with abilities such as yours is above them, and I'm not just talking about your ability to speak to me.-P
P-You mean me being a wizard.-P Harry surmised.
P-So, you are aware of your gifts. That is a relief.-P Ivy said.
P-To answer your question, it is because I am not of the age that permits magic outside of Hogwarts, where I've been learning about it. In addition, as I said before, I am being watched.-P Harry explained as he finished pulling the weeds. P-I have to do my indoor chores now. No one is here, so I'd like to take this opportunity to take you into my room if you don't mind. We can talk later when I'm done with all my chores.-P
P-Very well.-P Ivy agreed. Harry picked up the viper and carried her up to his room. When they got up there, Harry set Ivy down on his cot.
P-If I find a mouse by chance, I'll bring it up for you.-P Harry offered.
P-Thank you, Harry. I am rather starved.
With a nod, Harry left the room and returned to his chores.
***RotLP***
Harry had been finishing up the last of his chores when Vernon came back from work. As expected, the land whale saw that as reason enough to punish the boy. He got it just as bad, if not worse than, he did after the bacon and sausage incident, but at least he was done with his chores for the night.
After his punishment, Harry was literally thrown into his room by his uncle.
"Don't expect any food to come through the flap, freak!" The man snarled, slamming the door on his way out.
As Harry made his way to his cot, Ivy came out of hiding. P-That man… I swear, one day, I will strike him down on yours, and my little Jade's behalf! Him and his useless wench!-P
P-I appreciate your anger on my behalf, Ivy.-P Harry hissed weakly.
P-Oh, Harry, you poor thing.-P Ivy said sympathetically. P-Is there anything I can do for you? Perhaps those monsters have some medical aids I can retrieve for you.-P
P-No, Ivy. I don't want you to risk your life. Plus, it won't be too long before my magic starts healing me. Either that or fate refuses to grant me the release of death that I long for.-P Harry lamented.
P-Harry! How can you say that?!-P Ivy asked, worried for the boy.
And so, Harry told Ivy his life story; how he lost his parents, how he grew up abused for 10 years of his life, how he managed to find friends and family only to have them ripped away from him, and how he had the weight of the Wizarding World on his shoulders.
P-Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry to hear all that. You deserve to live a normal life filled with love, friendship, and peace.-P Ivy said comfortingly. P-I Understand why you long for death, but you mustn't give up! If you do, you will be letting those monsters downstairs win! Don't you want to prove them wrong? To prove to them that you are worthy of love and all good things that come with it.-P
P-Of course I do, Ivy!-P Harry snapped. P-But I honestly don't see how at this point. Sirius is dead, Ron and Hermione abandoned me, and it's likely that the twins and Ginny have, as well. And Charlie… He's likely already mated to someone far better than I could ever be.-P
P-Well, you're right about Ron and Hermione since they told you themselves. But you don't know that for sure about Ginny and the twins. And as for Charlie, you don't know for sure that he's mated.-P Ivy encouraged. P-Tell me, Harry. In his letters to you, did Charlie ever mention finding a mate?-P
P-No.-P Harry admitted. P-But that doesn't mean there's hope for me. For one thing, I'd have to either be a Draken, like him, or some other creature. And given everything that fate has taken from me, I have little reason to believe she would grant me Charlie as a life partner. Or maybe she would only to take him from me after a while. The bitch certainly seems to get her kicks from doing that.-P
P-Oh, Harry, I'm sure things will work out. You'll see.-P Ivy encouraged as a mother would for her young.
P-How can you be so optimistic? You lost your daughter. She must have been your everything.-P Harry said.
It hurt Ivy to have her daughter's death thrown at her, but she remained calm. She couldn't lose her composure on Harry when he was in such a fragile state. P-You're right, Harry. The day I lost my daughter was the worst day of my life. After I lost my mate, she was all I had, and fate saw fit to take her from me through the actions of those vile humans. But then fate saw fit to lead me to you, Harry. You have given me a reason to go on.
P- I did?-P Harry asked surprisingly.
P-Yes, you did.-P Ivy said. P-Harry, I believe you were destined for far greater things than being a victim of those monsters, your headmaster, and this Lord Voldemort. And I believe I met you so that I can help you achieve such things.-P
P-That's kind of you to say, Ivy.-P Harry said. P-But just you wait. It's only a matter of time before fate takes you away from me, too.-P
If snakes could sigh, Ivy definitely would. Fate had been even crueler to this boy than she had been to her. It was understandable that he would be so cynical. But she wasn't about to give up on him. It was clear that Harry needed a friend in his corner, and she decided she was going to be that friend.
P-It is clear that my words are meaningless.-P Ivy said. P-Nevertheless, I promise to be your friend and stay by your side, come hell or high water, and prove myself to you through my actions.
P-Don't make promises you can't keep, Ivy.-P Harry said dejectedly. He wanted so desperately to believe the green viper, but fate had crushed his belief in good things to come so thoroughly that he was afraid to ever believe again.
***RotLP***
Midnight had come, and as Ivy was asleep, Harry was once again awake with his thoughts. Before the smell of burning bacon and sausage interrupted his train of thought (Merlin, when was this train going to end?), he theorized that Dumbledore may very well have had a second interview with Trelawney with the true intention of leaking the prophecy.
Voldemort's hearing of the prophecy was the catalyst for his parents going into hiding, and subsequently, their deaths. So, Harry had to wonder if Dumbledore was responsible for that as well.
At first, he didn't think Dumbledore was that cold and calculating. But then he remembered his thoughts from two nights prior and corrected himself.
He remembered what Sirius had told him about the events leading up to that night. Originally, Sirius was the Potters' secret keeper. It wasn't until a skirmish with the Death Eaters that Sirius and James began second-guessing their decision; a skirmish they had been told to take part in under Dumbledore's orders.
Could Dumbledore have known that such a skirmish would be so intense to have such an effect on James and Sirius' psyches? Harry thought he very well could have, given that Dumbledore may have sent Sirius to the battle at the Department of Mysteries, knowing death would be a possibility. And look how that turned out.
So, as a result of the skirmish, James and Sirius switch the secret keeper to Peter Pettigrew. In fact, they switched the role to that traitorous rat at Dumbledore's suggestion. This lead Harry to wonder if Dumbledore saw how Pettigrew was wavering, or even if the old man somehow convinced Pettigrew to sell out his parents to Voldemort.
Either way, it made a sick sort of sense. As the Light Lord, Dumbledore saw Harry as the ultimate weapon against Voldemort, and as such, he wanted to control every aspect of Harry's life.
So, Harry finally came to the end of his train of thought regarding how Dumbledore may have manipulated his life.
But was it all true? Or was Harry just speculating out of anger towards his headmaster for not telling him everything he needed to know? There was also the possibility that with all the responsibilities Dumbledore has, he may have been too busy to guide Harry properly.
At that, Harry decided to lay down and attempt to get some rest, as he promised Ivy he would. He didn't want to risk his new friend being angry at him so soon into their friendship.
***RotLP***
Dudley was about to head out to meet his friends when he overheard his parents speaking.
"We have to figure something out, Pet. I will not miss this trip because of that freak!" His father snarled in a panic
"I know, Vernon, but there's nothing we can do," Petunia fretted. "Figg will be gone that weekend, and there's no way Marge will watch him. We can't trust Dudley to stay with him as long as he's still under the boy's spell."
So, his parents were still blaming Harry for his change. What a surprise.
But wait, Dudley remembered his parents discussing this trip before. His father was in line for a promotion at Grunnings, provided he did well in his presentation to the company's regional board, which was out of town. The meeting was the next weekend, and both his father and mother were going. This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He just had to play his cards right. Decision made, Dudley made his presence known.
"Actually, the spell has worn off. It took a while to remember how much I hate the little freak. If you go on this trip and leave me with him, I'll make sure he knows his place," Dudley said with as much venom as he could muster. It hurt him to say that, but he had to convince his parents to leave him alone with Harry.
"Ha! You see, Pet? We managed to scare the freak into letting our Dudders go from his spell!" Vernon roared triumphantly. His mother wasn't as convinced.
"Duddy, are you absolutely sure you're free?" Petunia asked with uncertainty.
"I'm sure mum. I want to make him pay for what he did to me. And a weekend alone with him seems like a pretty good chance," Dudley said. "Plus, you locked his stick under the stairs. There's no way he'll get me again."
"But what if he manages to spell you again without his stick?" Petunia fretted.
"Don't worry, mum," Dudley assured. "I'll straighten him out before he even thinks about it."
"Don't worry so much, Pet," Vernon soothed. "That freak won't be putting our boy under anymore spells if he knows what's good for him."
"Well… If you both are so sure," Petunia said. "Then I suppose, Dudley, we can leave you here with him."
"Yes!" Vernon cheered. "That promotion is as good as mine!"
At first, Dudley silently hoped his father wouldn't get the promotion. He didn't deserve it for the way he treated Harry, and likely, his coworkers.
But then he quickly retracted that hope. If his father didn't get the promotion, he would be angry, and would surely blame and beat Harry for it.
"Well, I'm off to reunite with Piers and the gang. I'll see you two later," Dudley lied as he walked out the door.
"We'll see you for dinner, Duddy! Say hello for me!" Petunia called.
Dudley smiled as he left. He was going to give Harry some good memories on Privet Drive for a change. Now, he just had to figure out how exactly they would spend their time.
AN:
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Just know, this story will for sure have Molly bashing. Sorry to all the Molly lovers out there (myself included), but my plans for the story require that Dumbledore has her as one of his sycophants. I haven't decided on Ron yet. Y'all can vote on his allegiance in your reviews!
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